NO HEADLINE
Dear Mr. Wolff: My friends at the bridge club have been trying to persuade me that something called the Principle of Restricted Choice can be used to decide whether to play for the drop or to finesse. Could you expound – or is this hogwash? – Occam’s Razor, Bristol, Va.
Answer: Briefly, the idea is that a player with a singleton has no choice in his carding – he must play it. A player with a doubleton has a choice.
So when missing four cards to the Q-J, if you see an honor appear, it is more likely to be from a singleton than a doubleton. This overrules the “Eight ever nine never” rule.
Dear Mr. Wolff: Playing against a pair whom I knew to be aggressive, I held ♠A-2, ♥Q-9-3, ♦A-Q-7-2, ♣A-K-Q-4. I doubled the two-spade opening on my right but sold out when my LHO’s raise to three spades was passed back to me. Was I too cowardly? My partner had nothing but five hearts to the king, but we could have made four hearts. – Feeble Weevil, Madison, Wis.
Answer: Your decision was not absurd. If partner has fewer than five hearts, you are unlikely to make game and may simply be exchanging a small plus score for a (large) minus score by bidding. I would double, but I do not think you were out of line to pass.
Dear Mr. Wolff: When my partner opened two clubs, I responded two diamonds. My LHO then bid two hearts. It wasn’t until the hand was over and they had set us 300 that we learned LHO had only two points with six hearts. I contend that this was a psyche and thus an illegal bid. She asked the director, who told her it was perfectly legal. Is that really so? – Sliding Doors, Augusta, Ga.
Answer: First of all, psyching is not illegal so long as partner does not expect it more than the opponents. Secondly, a psyche is a material misstatement of values. Overcalling after a two-club bid does not promise anything. What you or your partner (or even overcaller’s partner) expects is almost irrelevant. You can see why an opponent would want to get in the way of your bidding. You may not like it, but that is just unfortunate.
Dear Mr. Wolff: What is the right course of action if an opponent shows you his cards? How should you proceed? – One-Eyed Jack, St/ John, New Brunswick
Answer: When someone starts to show you his cards, you should try to prevent him from doing so at least once. After that, he is on his own. Do not try to look, but you do not have to turn away.
Dear Mr. Wolff: Playing two-over-one game-forcing, my partner held ♠A-K-9-2, ♥Q-9-6-4-3, ♦K, ♣Q-7-2. He opened one heart, and as a passed hand, I responded one no-trump. I thought my partner’s bid of two spades would deliver a good hand, not this little. But he contended he could not pass with a singleton or rebid his weak five-carder (my choice). Who is right? – The Scramble Is On, Salinas, Calif.
Answer: In a sense neither of you is right, though two spades does indeed show a very good hand. On an expert panel some would pass, knowing that the singleton king was not terrible since partner must have one minor or both. The majority would bid two clubs – typically a four-card suit but occasionally, as here, the least lie.